User and Group Management
A cheatsheet for common commands used to create, modify, and delete user accounts and groups.
Creating Users and Groups
Add a new user
sudo useradd [username]Adds a new user to the system. The user will not have a home directory or a password set yet.
Add a user with a home directory
sudo useradd -m [username]Creates a new user and automatically creates their home directory at `/home/[username]`.
Set a password for a user
sudo passwd [username]Sets or changes the password for an existing user account. You will be prompted to enter the new password twice.
Add a new group
sudo groupadd [groupname]Creates a new group.
Managing Users and Groups
Add a user to a group
sudo usermod -aG [groupname] [username]Adds a user to a secondary group. The `-a` (append) flag is important so the user is not removed from other groups.
Delete a user
sudo userdel [username]Deletes a user account but leaves their home directory and other files on the system.
Delete a user and their home directory
sudo userdel -r [username]Deletes a user account and recursively removes their home directory and mail spool.
Delete a group
sudo groupdel [groupname]Deletes a group. The group must be empty of members before it can be deleted.
Check a user's information
id [username]Displays a user's UID, GID, and the groups they are a member of.